


Promise The Stars

by chileancarmenere



Series: Wishing In The Dark [2]
Category: Dragon Age
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-05
Updated: 2012-01-05
Packaged: 2017-10-28 23:28:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/313353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chileancarmenere/pseuds/chileancarmenere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Isabela and Merrill set sail to Minrathous after Fenris.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Promise The Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Lyrics are from Shoot Out The Lights by Ron Pope.

_Heavens shake with anger and the clouds_

 _They curse the ground_

 _And I’m screaming for an answer but the darkness blinds me now_

 

Isabela slammed her dagger into the table in her quarters, frustrated. Caprus, her first mate, jumped. “Captain?”

She gritted her teeth, glaring at the map spread out before her. No matter how much she wished it, the wind couldn’t blow any faster or the coastline grow any smaller. “It’s nothing. You have your orders. We’ll be in Llomerryn by tomorrow morning.”

He nodded and hurried out of her quarters. She flicked the dagger buried in the wood a few times listlessly. Danarius had two days’ head start on her, and Fenris had warned her that he was a magister that was capable of incredible feats of magic. He was probably in Minrathous by now.

Her worst, her most constant fear was that by the time she got there, Danarius would have broken Fenris, and he wouldn’t remember her. The very thought made her sick to her stomach.

 _Don’t think about that._

Merrill peeped in around the door. “Isabela?”

She summoned a wan smile for her. “Oh, Kitten.”

“I heard you yelling,” Merrill said by way of explanation, coming in and perching on a stack of papers. “I don’t think that will get us to Minrathous any faster.”

“I doubt it, Kitten.” Isabela rubbed her eyes; they burned from lack of sleep. “I’m a bit on edge.” It was all the apology she was going to give.

“I know.” Merrill looked at the papers she was sitting on. “Oh, really?” She made a small noise of disgust. “These are slaving manifests. Castillon must have left them here.”

“Let me see.” Isabela took the paper from Merrill. On it was a long list of names, many of them elvish-sounding, with the heading ‘Sold - deliver to Tevinter by Satinalia.’

 _You freed the slaves?_

 _A moment of madness. Temporary goodness._

 _He wasn’t fooled. You can deflect questions all you like, but it was still the decent thing to do._

 _Not very profitable, though._

She imagined Fenris’ name on it, and with a single, sharp movement tore it in half. Merrill hummed in approval, and hopped off it to grab several sheets and rip them to pieces. For a little while, both of them sat in companionable silence, shredding the papers until the cabin was full of white shreds, like snowflakes.

“We’ll get him back,” Merrill said eventually. “I know that we will.”

Isabela nodded, more to bolster Merrill‘s confidence than anything. “Why did you come with me?” she asked. “Fenris doesn’t like you.”

“No.” Merrill looked down at her hands. “I…what Hawke did is unforgivable. What if she turned on me next? I wasn’t safe with her any more. She might have turned me over to the templars. And no matter what Fenris thinks of me, no one deserves to be sent back into slavery.”

Isabela put her hands behind her head and leaned back. Anders had uttered a derisive laugh and claimed that it was all that Fenris had deserved. Aveline still clung to Hawke out of a sense of loyalty, as did Varric. That had hurt her: Aveline and Varric had both liked Fenris. But Hawke had a strange charisma about her, one that charmed people even when they knew what she had done.

She was still trying to wrap her head around why Hawke would do such a thing. Hawke fought the Arishok on Isabela’s behalf. She was brusque, she was tactless, but Isabela had never thought she would…

She got up, letting Merrill stay in her cabin. It was nighttime, and no one was on deck save the night watch. She nodded to them as she strode to the rail, gripping it hard. The stars were impossibly bright tonight.

“I’m coming,” she whispered to the sea.


End file.
